Consortium cruiser Koizumi
Koizumi was the second Komaki-class heavy cruiser constructed for the Raion Consortium shortly before the events of the Third War in Heaven. Lithe, fast, and extremely powerful, they were a massive shock to the galaxy when the Aetanii re-entered the galactic stage after several centuries of isolation. Fully capable of outrunning and outgunning any other power's starships of similar size and armament, they were the principle reason behind the Terran Alliance's resurgent heavy cruiser programme as well as the general trend in the galaxy towards faster warships. Design The ''Komaki-class heavy cruisers, at their time of their construction, were the latest in a long line of qualitatively superior warships designed by the Consortium to meet the needs of their military's "quality over quantity" doctrine: as the Aetanii could never meet the numbers required to crew the massive numbers of starships fielded by other nations, such as the Alparan Empire and to a lesser extent the Terran Alliance, they chose instead to improve their warships to the point where they could meet and engage the next strongest navy's warships on at least a 2-to-1 basis. Compared to many modern warships, they exceeded this handily, to where one Komaki could be said to be equal to several dozen Hyperions. The hullform, as was the trend in Consortium warships of the modern era, consisted of a long, narrow wedge-shaped hull with a gentle slope to allow maximum concentration of firepower forward while allowing at least half the armament to bear on the broadside. This gave many of the most modern Consortium warships a thin, dagger-esque appearance, made the more striking by their gleaming white-and-chrome hulls in contrast to the dull grey of most Alliance warships. Armament The Komaki-class cruisers had a main armament of twenty (20) 20cm Gauss rifles, designated 9-''Shiki Kai''; they could launch a 155-kg projectile out to ~20 light-seconds accurately at 12,000 km/s, and were tactically equivalent to a 310,000-petawatt laser- by contrast, the 30.5cm PC-5000 laser cannons of a Terran Alliance Luna-class battlecruiser could only output 100,000 terawatts per shot, and mounted fewer barrels. Furthermore, they shared the same firing rate at about 10-12 seconds between salvoes, meaning the Komaki''s were overall superior warships to the Terran Alliance's most numerous type of large capital ship, the battlecruiser- certainly a qualitative superiority only the Aetanii could achieve. Secondary armament consisted of sixteen 12.7cm 2-''Shiki naval cannons, which were tactically equivalent to a 215,000-terawatt laser cannon and had a loading cycle of approximately three seconds. They were studded around the hull in twin mountings to provide the best arcs of fire against smaller craft. The ''Komaki''s, typical of Consortium cruisers, also boasted a strong torpedo armament: 61cm otherspace torpedoes, each capable of submersion into otherspace (the Aetanii form of FTL travel) for an undetectable approach to the target. As a result, the Aetanii tended to use them at long range, in contrast to the close-in "swarm"-style tactics popularized by other nations with their torpedoes. Point defense was provided by a number of 5.7cm and 2cm Gauss-type autocannons, as well as a neutron beam cannon network for last-ditch defense against missiles and torpedoes. History Commission Early Service Third War in Heaven Service Battle of Vermilion Second Battle of Vermilion The Action off Coris Battle of the Stygian Well Second Battle of the Acheron Caldera Later Years Decommissioning Category:Starships Category:Individual Starships Category:Consortium Starships Category:Aetanii Category:Cruisers Category:Heavy Cruisers